Samsung Ditches S8 Iris Scanning

Paul Rubens - March 10, 2017 - 07:52 AM

Samsung is to introduce facial recognition on the Galaxy S8, as iris scanning is too slow and inaccurate.

(CCM) — Samsung has decided to dump iris scanning as the primary biometric method of unlocking its upcoming Galaxy S8 smartphone in favor of facial recognition, according to a report in the Korea Herald. "Due to some limits of iris scanning such as speed and accuracy, we have decided to add facial recognition to the Galaxy S8," a Samsung official was quoted as explaining. "With a face scanner, it will take less than 0.01 seconds to unlock the phone," the official added.

The news suggests that Samsung has been unable to get its iris scanning software to work accurately while authenticating users in an acceptably short space of time. Samsung's decision appears to mirror Apple's plans for its next iPhone: rumors emanating from the company suggest that Apple is planning to replace its fingerprint scanner with a facial recognition system – possibly to enable it to remove the hardware button from the bottom of the screen. Samsung is not thought to be about to remove the fingerprint scanner from the Galaxy S8, but instead it is expected to move it to the rear of the smartphone. The Galaxy S8 is due to be unveiled on Mar. 29 before its official launch date sometime in mid-April.